Q & A with Billy "The Kid" Dib


World rated Featherweight Billy “The Kid” Dib 30-1(18) hails from Sydney, though is of Lebanese decent. He enjoyed a successful amateur career, before injury prevented him representing Australia at the 2004 Olympics. It was at this point Dib traveled to Sheffield, England to train with his hero Nassem Hamed. Hamed liked what he saw and encouraged his young protégé to turn professional. Having quickly rattled off nineteen wins over the next four years he got his title shot when he went up against Steve Luevano. It was to be Dib’s only career loss to date, going down to a decision. Still only 25, Dib has rebounded well since going 9-0(7) with 1 No Contest. An impressive performance Saturday against Ricky Sismundo 18-5(7) could propel him back into the world scene. The young veteran believes he’s learnt from the Luevano loss, along with sparring in America and is nearing a second opportunity. Currently he’s ranked WBA 12 & IBF 4.

Hello Billy, welcome to 15rounds.com

Anson Wainwright – Firstly you will be fighting Ricky Sismundo this weekend. What are your thoughts on this fight and what are you looking for from this fight?

Billy Dib – This is going to be a match in which I will be able to showcase my skills and put in a good performance against a dangerous opponent for the people of Perth, especially since it is my first fight out West. I will be looking to stick to the game plan and am definitely aiming for a knockout.

Anson Wainwright – What are you plans for 2011? Are you targeting anyone in particular?

Billy Dib – 2011 is going to be the year where I finally break out and become the force in the Featherweight division that I am capable of being. Our main target for this year is Chris John and his WBA title but first I will have to put in an impressive performance against Ricky Sismundo. There are, however, some really good things coming in 2011 for us so I urge the fans to keep an eye out for me in what’s going to be a major year for Team BTK.

Anson Wainwright – Can you tell us about your team? Who is your manager, trainer & promoter? Also what gym do you regularly train at? Have you left Australia for sparring, if so who have you sparred with and how did it go?

Billy Dib – I have a great team behind me and am very thankful to have them. My manager is Michael K who also manages rising Australian star, Garth Wood. My trainer is the master coach Billy Hussein, who I truly believe is one of the best trainers in the world. I am a free agent at the moment but I’m working with great, young promoters such as Ty Colman as well as having a great relationship with Grange Old School Boxing. I train at my own gym in which is located in Lakemba. I travelled to the US to spar with some talented fighters in Jesse Magdaleno, Diego Magdaleno and Celestino Caballero. This was very beneficial as I had the chance to test my skills.

Anson Wainwright – You’ve won 9 straight since you fought for the WBO Featherweight title against Steve Luevano in 2008. How do you think you have improved since you had that fight with Luevano? What can you tell us about that fight? Was it just a bit soon for you etc?

Billy Dib – I definitely feel as though I have improved under the guidance of Billy Hussein as we have added dimensions to my skill-set which I did not focus on before this fight. The fight with Luevano obviously did not go according to plan and I lost to a better fighter only on that night. There are no excuses for the performance but I know in my heart that I will not pass up another opportunity such as that one again.

Anson Wainwright – The Featherweight division is talent packed with the likes of Juanma Lopez, Yuriorkis Gamboa, Chris John etc what are your thoughts on the division in general?

Billy Dib – It really is a division littered with a lot of great fighters. It is also a division in which I believe I can be among the elite once given my chance to prove my worth. I will be looking to prove that by working my way to the top already having a number 4 spot in the IBF. My team and I will be pushing for fights to put us in a place to be able to challenge and beat these champions.

Anson Wainwright – Your last 3 fights have taken place above the 126 Featherweight limit, are you looking for fights at 130?

Billy Dib – I am looking for fights anywhere between 126 and 130 as long as they are high calibre fights which will help to improve my standing in world boxing.

Anson Wainwright – Can you tell us about your amateur career and what happened to prevent you representing Australia in the 2004 Olympics? Also what titles did you win and what was your final record?

Billy Dib – I had a very enjoyable and distinguished amateur career in which I represented Australia all over the world. I was unable to represent Australia in the 2004 Olympics due to a motorbike accident which hampered my performance at the trials. I won numerous state, national and Golden Gloves titles, compiling a record of 113 fights for 98 wins.

Anson Wainwright – After not going to the Olympics you came to Britain and went to train with Nassem Hamed. what can you tell us about that experience?

Billy Dib – That was definitely an experience which changed my life. Training with my hero in boxing was something that felt simply like a dream. From there a bond was forged between me and Naz and we have become like brothers. Naz also encouraged me to turn professional after watching a few of my fight tapes, telling me that my style would be better suited to the professional ranks and I did just that.

Anson Wainwright – In 2006 you were given the chance to train with Mike Tyson, how did that come about and what was it like?

Billy Dib – Jeff Fenech decided to take me over to the US to meet and train with Mike Tyson as a 21st Birthday present. It was a great experience training alongside one of the greatest fighters of all time in Mike Tyson. While over there I met with the legendary Sugar Shane Mosley who took me under his wing. We shared many training camps together, shared the ring together in sparring many a time. He is a great mentor and friend of mine.

Anson Wainwright – When your not Boxing what do you like to do with your time? What are your hobbies & Interests?

Billy Dib – I like to spend time with my family and friends when I am away from boxing. I enjoy wakeboarding and shooting some hoops. I enjoy watching Rugby League, Basketball and Soccer, supporting St George Illawarra in Rugby League, LA Lakers in Basketball and Manchester United in Soccer.

Anson Wainwright – Finally do you have a message for your fans?

Billy Dib – My fans can stay updated with the latest and greatest on my Twitter page, Facebook page and my website at billythekid.com.au. Thanks for all the wonderful support.

Thanks for your time Billy, keep up the good work.

Anson Wainwright

15rounds.com

Extend your reach

New Straits Times May 17, 2010

New Straits Times 05-17-2010 Extend your reach Edition: Main/Lifestyle Section: Tech & U Column: Top picks Memo: Tech

IN conjunction with World Telecommunications Day today, here are mobile tools that help us to connect and communicate better, for work and play

1. Sony Ericsson Satio Get set for entertainment beyond your dreams. The Satio combines the latest technology and style with a 12.1 megapixel camera. With this phone, you can talk with pictures.

Tap directly into your favourite music and films using the unique touch panels. Use the responsive touchscreen camera feature to focus and snap your photos.

Besides that, pre-loaded apps like Facebook, Picasa Web album, YouTube, Google Map and WorldMate extend your connectivity and social networking reach.

2. Toshiba TG01

A Toshiba phone? Surprised? Toshiba, a well-known player in the notebook market, is now making inroads into the mobile phone segment.

The Windows TG01 phone features impressive functions like cinematic screen, 3-D games, music on the go and gesture operation.

What’s gesture operation? It’s a sensor-based feature that allows you to simply shake the phone to take a call or tilt it to move between apps. Cool huh? htctouchpronow.net htc touch pro

3. Samsung Monte

Without doubt, Samsung has proven its worth in the mobile arena. Its design is getting better by the day. This is a beauty with lots of features.

With a direct click to social networking services, multi instant messenger, Wi-Fi and 3G, this is the phone you will want to flash around while hanging out with friends.

4. HTC Touch Pro 2

If you want a serious looking business phone that will look good in the boardroom, the HTC Touch Pro 2 is it.

With its new Straight Talk technology, the phone is a powerful pocketable conference call system.

Its dual speaker microphones reduce background noise and boost voice clarity.

Simply place the phone face down on a table and it will automatically switch to speaker mode.

5. LG GD900 Crystal

This LG phone is very stylish and sleek, with transparent keypad.

It blends elegance and functionality beautifully. You can use the Crystal touch pad as a numeric keypad, mouse pad, touch wheel and multi-touch zooming tool. It even has handwriting recognition.

6. Nokia N900

This is the first Nokia phone to use the much-talk-about Maemo system. It’s basically a computer designed in a palm-sized body. website htc touch pro

With a 600Mhz processor and a 1GB of application memory, the N900 is a beast in its own way.

Its 32GB storage can store up to 7,000 songs and 40 hours of DVD- quality video.

Not enough? The phone comes with external microSD card that can expand storage to 48GB.

Other features include a five-megapixel camera with Carl Zeiss lens, integrated A-GPS and quadband GSM with GPRS and Edge.

7. Motorola Backflip

The name sounds like an autobot character in Transformers.

The design of this latest Motorola phone can be said to be a “first” in mobile phones.

Besides a screen that backflips into a generous sized keyboard, its Motoblur feature enables all your messages, posts, tweets, pictures and contacts be streamed directly to you.

8. Sony Ericsson Vivaz

Want to watch movies while on the go and in HD quality? Try the Sony Ericsson Vivaz HD video phone.

Featuring a 16:9-inch screen with 720p resolution video quality, it is the perfect companion for lonely long-distance travellers.

It offers 8.1-megapixel camera and a memory of 8GB, expandable to 16GB via microSD.

For social networking junkies, the inclusion of Facebook, YouTube, Twitter, Google Maps, RoadSync and Wisepilot is a big bonus.

9. LG-GW620

It looks like an iPhone at a glance, but this smart phone from LG is said to be intuitive and fun to use.

Its user interface is designed for instant access to your applications at a flick of a finger.

You are also able to tag your friends automatically in photos so that you’ll never forget their name again.

10. Apple iPhone 3Gs

Based on its popularity, this may be the phone of the year.

Featuring a slimmer design, the iPhone 3Gs features a video camera, voice control and with that excellent touch screen capability. Users can opt for either 16GB or 32GB storage.

The first thing you’ll notice about iPhone 3GS is how quickly you can launch applications.



Q & A with Steve Luevano


At the turn of the year all was well for Steve Luevano he was looking forward to his biggest fight and pay day of a near 10 year career. He knew if he could add to his five successful defence’s with number six he’d move himself into a higher tax bracket. However things didn’t go well for the Californian native when he lost to uber talented Puerto Rican JuanMa Lopez via seventh round stoppage. Now fully rested one of Boxing’s quiet guys Luevano 29 hopes to soon be back in action and make some noise with some of the top guys at Featherweight. Here’s what Luevano had to say.

Hello Steve, welcome to 15rounds.com

Anson Wainwright – Firstly it’s been nearly 4 months since you fought JuanMa Lopez, how have you been since that fight? What have you done with your time?

Steve Luevano – I’ve been good since then, i’ve not really done anything just hanging out and spending time with my family and my friends Baseball team.

Anson Wainwright – Do you have any idea when we may see your return to the ring?

Steve Luevano – Not at the moment, Cameron (Dunkin) hasn’t said anything or my trainer Robert (Garcia) he is the one who normally lets me know.

Cameron Dunkin – Steven will fight this summer and I have no doubt he will be champion again. Todd duBoef has told me he will support us (Steven, me and Robert) and I’m really excited for Steven. I think Juanma is a great fighter so there is no disgrace in Steven losing to him. Steven fought his heart out and he does in every fight.

Anson Wainwright – When would you like to be back in action?

Steve Luevano – Umm doesn’t really matter to me.

Anson Wainwright – You have been a career Featherweight do you think you’ll comeback at 126 or are you moving up to Super Featherweight? What is your weight now?

Steve Luevano – Whatever it’s doesn’t matter to me. I can make 126 still it they want to put me at 130 that’ll be even easier for me. I’m 20 pounds over my fighting weight.

Anson Wainwright – Can you tell us about your team, who is your manager, trainer & promoter? Also what gym do you use to train at?

Steve Luevano – Well my manager is Cameron Dunkin and trainer is Robert Garcia & my promoter is Top Rank. I train out of it was La Colonia but it’s now Garcia Boxing club.

Anson Wainwright – If we can touch on what you have done so far in your career how do you look back on your WBO title reign at Featherweight? What was your proudest moment?

Steve Luevano – The proudest moment was defending my WBO title 5 times. They gave me a ring for that and i know a lot of fighters don’t do that. For me that was the proudest moment.

Anson Wainwright – How good in your opinion is JuanMa Lopez?

Steve Luevano – He’s a good fighter, i always thought he was a good fighter. What i think of him, to me he’s just another fighter. He’s very tough fighter but i don’t think he’s the next Floyd Mayweather because nobody can be better than Floyd. But because he’s Puerto Rican Trinidad but he’s like Trinidad but he’s nowhere near as good as Trinidad.

Anson Wainwright – His next opponent will be another guy you fought Bernabe Concepcion how do you see that going?

Steve Luevano – I see it going pretty good. If Concepcion catches him with the punches he’s going to get in trouble because he hits hard. He (Concepcion) never really got me with a good punch until after the bell (Concepcion lost via seventh round DQ after a late punch) It’s going to be an interesting fight. If Concepcion can get him to brawl it’s better fight for him.

Anson Wainwright – What are your goals in Boxing on your comeback?

Steve Luevano – Getting a title back

Anson Wainwright – The Featherweight division is pretty hot at the moment with several top guys JuanMa Lopez, Chris John, Yuriorkis Gamboa, Elio Rojas & Celestino Caballero what are you feeling about your division being so hot at the moment?

Steve Luevano – It looks like better fighters are there and better paydays. To me I can still make 126 but if Cameron thinks i should move to 130 i’ll move to 130.

Anson Wainwright – Do you have anyone in mind that your targeting?

Steve Luevano – Chris John because it looks like he wants to make a break out and a name for himself so i wouldn’t mind that one.

Anson Wainwright – You train with Mikey Garcia he’s well thought of what can you tell us about how you assess his ability?

Steve Luevano – Oh Mikey is a really good fighter, very technical. His dad trains him not to fight like Robert did, because Robert was a brawler, he rarely boxed. With Mikey all he does is box, he’s very skilled. He has a lot of potential to beat those guys who are out there right now

Anson Wainwright – Finally do you have a message for your fans and the Boxing public?

Steve Luevano – I’m just waiting on a date for my comeback.

Thanks for your time Steve, good luck in your comeback.

Anson Wainwright
15rounds.com



Audio: Steve Luevano & Dyah Davis on The Sunday Sizzler

WBO Featherweight Champion Steven Luevano, Dyah Davis, Marc Abrams, LIVE!! Weekly Sunday Morning Open Line with 15rounds.com’s Johnny Schulz writer presents: Talking BOXING with JSizzle and New York Dan NYD – A weekly Sunday Morning boxing show covering Boxing from all angles. Alongside and boxing aficionado Danny “NYD” Stasiukiewicz, Marc Abrams.